DETROIT - Chris Sale and Justin Verlander battled for seven innings on the mound at Comerica Park on Monday afternoon in a classic pitcher's duel.

The Red Sox lefty outlasted his Detroit counterpart on the mound, but in the end it cost him.

The Tigers eked out a run in the bottom of the eighth on a Nick Castellanos RBI single to edge Boston 2-1 and take three of four games in the series.

Sale and Verlander traded inning after inning of brilliance for seven innings. But it was the Red Sox starter who took the loss.

Sale retired the first eight batters he faced before allowing a two-out double in the third to No. 9 hitter Austin Romine. He followed that up with a seven-pitch battle against leadoff hitter Ian Kinsler before getting Kinsler to strike out swinging on a slider.

Sale sat down the next eight straight batters until Kinsler returned to the plate in the sixth and crushed a first-pitch fastball for a solo homer to tie the game 1-1.

After seven scoreless innings in his Red Sox debut, the homer snapped a 12-inning scoreless streak to start the season for the lefty.

Sale allowed a one-out single in the seventh and notched his 10th strikeout with the second out of the eighth.

It marked the 36th time Sale had struck out 10 or more batters in a game, the last time coming in September of last season.

But the tall lefty ran into trouble once he got over 100 pitches and the Tigers jumped at the chance. Romine hit his second double of the game off Sale and Kinsler followed with walk. That brought Castellanos to the plate and he slapped a single to left scoring the go-ahead run.

Sale finished with two runs allowed on five hits and one walk while striking out 10. He fired 108 pitches, 70 for strikes and registered 15 swings and misses.

Boston jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second when Mitch Moreland hit a leadoff double, Pablo Sandoval walked and Chris Young reached on an error. Moreland scored when Brock Holt hit into a bases-loaded double play.

But that was all Boston could muster off Verlander. The Tigers ace finished with an unearned run allowed on three hits, two walks and four strikeouts over seven innings.